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Théodore Gericault

Flayed Horse I, c. 1820/1824

West Building, Ground Floor - Gallery 8

Medium

pigmented wax

Dimensions

overall: 23.2 x 21.7 x 11.7 cm (9 1/8 x 8 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

Accession Number

1980.44.7

Artists / Makers

Théodore Gericault (artist) French, 1791 - 1824

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

incised on top left of self-base: Geric[a]u [lt scratched out]; to its right, on same line: Ge[ricault]

Provenance

(Reportedly Gericault's Paris atelier sale, 2-3 November 1824); allegedly purchased by Susse.[1] Sold by spring 1867 to Maurice Cottier [d. before July 1882], Paris.[2] Madame Cottier, his widow, by 1889;[3] Cottier descendants, until February 1958; (Alex Reid & Lefèvre Ltd., London), by 1958;[4] purchased 25 October 1960 by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia;[5] gift 1980 to NGA.

[1] Lorenz A. Eitner, Charles Clément: Géricault [sic], 1879 reprint with supplement, Paris, 1973: 325. As Laveissière in Géricault [sic], Exh. cat. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 1991: 335, notes, there is no documentary evidence to support that statement. No sculpture is listed in that sale (Lorenz A. Eitner, "The Sale of Géricault's [sic] Studio in 1824", Gazette des Beaux Arts, 6th per., 53, no. 108 [February 1959]: 115-126); the notes of the commissaire-priseur for the sale, maître Parmentier, are thought to have disappeared in the destruction of his office (Germain Bazin, Théodore Géricault [sic]. Etude Critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, 4 vols., Paris, 1987-1990: 1:9). To judge by the catalogue, the London sale of 3 November 1824 included only paintings and works on paper. Furthermore, Gericault's estate inventory lists only two wax equestrians and two hide-covered wood study models of a cow and bull (Bazin 1987-1990, 1:89, Doc. 299). "Monsieur" Susse may have bought the wax privately, though it is not clear if he is either Victor (J.-V. Susse, 1806-1860) or Amédée (J.V.-A. Susse, 1808-1880), who expanded their grandfather's paper business into an art-bronze enterprise (Nineteenth Century French and Western European Sculpture in Bronze and Other Media, Exh. cat. Shepherd Gallery, New York, 1985: 286).

[2] Charles Clément, "Géricault [sic]", Gazette des Beaux Arts, 9th yr. (1 April 1867): 325.

[3] Though the owner is not cited in the exhibition catalogue, Cottier's widow has been identified as the lender of the wax to the Exposition Centennale of 1889; see "Notable Works of Art Now on the Market", advertisement supplement section, Burlington Magazine 102, no. 687 (June 1960): pl. 16.

[4] "Notable Works" 1960, pl. 16. According to an anonymous memorandum dated 7 February 1974, documenting verbal information from Germain Bazin (Documentation du Département des Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris ["Dossier Géricault-Ecorché"], R. F. 1657), followed by Laveissière in Géricault 1991, 335 (full citation in note 1), a "Mason" acquired the wax in February 1958 when it was released by the Cottiers. However, the source of that information and identity of the party are unknown.

[5] In NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Cottier, Maurice, Mr. and Mrs.
Mellon, Paul
Reid & Lefèvre, Ltd, Alex
Susse

Exhibition History

1866: Cercle de l'Union artistique, Paris, 1866.

1889: Exposition Centennale de l'Art Français, Paris, 1889, no. 85.

1960: XIX and XX Century French Paintings and Sculpture, Lefevre Gallery, London, 1960, no. 38, repro.

1974: Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1866: Lagrange, Léon. "Bulletin mensuel. Mars 1866. Exposition du Cercle de l'Union Artistique." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 1st ser., 20, no. 4 (1 April 1986): 400.

1866: Rousseau, Jean. "Chronique des arts." L'Univers illustré 9th yr., 525 (April 1866): 214.

1868: Clément, Charles. Géricault. Etude biographique et critique. Paris, 1868: 325.

1872: Mantz, Paul. "La Galerie de M. Maurice Cottier." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 2nd ser., 5 (1 May 1872): 382.

1882: Blondel, Spire. "Les Modeleurs en cire (troisième et dernier article)." Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 2, 26 (1 November 1882): 437.

1960: "Notable Works of Art Now on the Market" (advertisement supplement section). The Burlington Magazine 102, no. 687 (June 1960): pl. 16.

1965: Peignot, Jérome. "Géricault Sculpteur." Connaissance des Arts 155 (1965): 48, repro. p. 47.

1973: Eitner, Lorenz. Charles Clément: Géricault [sic]. 1879 reprint with supplement. Paris, 1973: 325, no. 1; 460, no. 1.

1973: Schmoll, J.A. "Géricault Sculpteur. A propos de la découverte d'une statuette en plâtre d'un moribond." Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (1973): 320, no. 1.

1978: Grunchec, Philippe. Gericault, tout l'oeuvre peint. Paris, 1978: 148, no. 21.

1980: Hargrove, June. "Flayed Horse." In The Romantics to Rodin: Nineteenth-Century Sculpture from North American Collections. Peter Fusco and H.W. Janson, eds. 5 venues. New York, 1980: 285.

1983: Eitner, Lorenz. Gericault. His Life and Work. London, 1983: 333 n. 113.

1991: Laveissière, Sylvain. "Cheval échorché." In Géricault. Exh. cat. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 1991: 335.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 96, repro.

2000: Butler, Ruth, and Suzanne Glover Lindsay, with Alison Luchs, Douglas Lewis, Cynthia J. Mills, and Jeffrey Weidman. European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 253-259, color repro.

2000: National Gallery of Art Special Issue. Connaissance des Arts. Paris, 2000:62.